South Africa-based Lumepay has disclosed a USD 6 million pre-seed round, closed in early 2026, for its B2B cross-border payments platform.
The round, which closed at the start of 2026, came from angel investors and South African fintech investors. Lumepay says it has also secured around USD 10 million in capital float to provide liquidity for its clients. The pre-seed funding was used to launch its products, build infrastructure and partnerships, and obtain regulatory clearances.
Payments and digital asset products
Lumepay launched Lumetrade, its digital asset and stablecoin trading venue, in April 2026, followed by a cross-border payments platform for businesses across Africa in June 2026. The two products have attracted 6,000 businesses and individuals since launch. The company combines traditional banking channels with digital asset infrastructure to process cross-border corporate payments, which it says makes them faster and cheaper.
In October 2026, Lumepay received regulatory clearance from the Central Bank of Kenya and launched its payments service there, allowing Kenyan businesses to pay international suppliers in Chinese yuan, US dollars, Indian rupees, and other currencies, and to move money along intra-African trade corridors. The company also operates in the West and Central African CFA franc zones, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
Combining banking rails and stablecoins
Harry Huang, CEO of Lumepay, stated that the future of cross-border payments lies in combining traditional finance with stablecoins, supported by the foreign exchange depth needed to make them work for businesses. According to Huang, Lumepay’s approach targets the main sources of friction in cross-border payments: fragmentation, inefficient use of liquidity, and execution risk.
In South Africa, Nedbank acts as Lumepay’s sponsoring bank for rand collections and payouts, while Standard Bank supports rand deposits and withdrawals for Lumetrade’s institutional clients. Lumepay is now preparing for a Series A round and plans to expand its regulatory footprint across Southern, West, and Central Africa, with Malawi, Mozambique, and the two CFA franc zones as priority markets.
